United States Senators

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Alan Stuart "Al" Franken (born May 21, 1951) is the junior United States Senator from Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party.
Franken achieved prominence as a writer and performer for the television show Saturday Night Live from its inception in 1975 before moving to writing and acting in films and television shows. He then became a political commentator, author of five books and host of a nationally syndicated radio show on the Air America Radio network.

Alan Kooi Simpson is a Republican politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States senator from Wyoming. His father, Milward L. Simpson, was also a member of the U.S. Senate from Wyoming (1962-1967) and a former governor of Wyoming (1955-1959) as well.

Arlen Specter (born February 12, 1930) is the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania. Specter is a Democrat, but was a Republican from 1965 (when he changed parties in order to challenge the Democratic district attorney of Philadelphia) until switching back to the Democratic Party in 2009. Elected to the Senate in 1980, Specter staked out a spot in the political center. In April 2006, he was selected by Time as one of America's Ten Best Senators.
On April 28, 2009, Specter announced that, after 44 years as an elected Republican, he was switching to the Democratic Party, citing that he was increasingly "at odds with the (current) Republican philosophy." On May 18, 2010, Specter was defeated in the Democratic primary by Joe Sestak.

Barbara Levy Boxer is the junior United States Senator from California and a member of the Democratic Party. Boxer was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, becoming the second female Jewish U.S. senator, after Sen. Dianne Feinstein. She was reelected in 1998 and in 2004 for a term ending in January 2011.

Barbara Mikulski is the senior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1986, she is the first woman elected to the Senate from Maryland. She currently ranks 17th in seniority in the Senate, and is the most senior female Senator. She received 1,504,691 votes in her 2004 reelection campaign, the largest number of votes to date for a Senate candidate in Maryland.

Benjamin Cardin is the junior United States Senator from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the Senate, Cardin was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Maryland's 3rd congressional district from 1987 to 2007.

Bernard "Bernie" Sanders (born September 8, 1941) is the junior United States Senator from Vermont, elected on November 7, 2006. Before becoming Senator, Sanders represented Vermont's at-large district in the United States House of Representatives for 16 years. Sanders also served as mayor of Burlington, Vermont from 1981 through 1989.

Blanche Meyers Lambert Lincoln is the senior U.S. Senator from Arkansas and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1998, she was the first woman elected to the Senate from Arkansas since Hattie Caraway in 1932 and, at age 38, was the youngest woman elected to the Senate. She previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Arkansas's 1st congressional district from 1993 to 1997.
Lincoln is the first woman and the first Arkansan to serve as chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. She decided to run for a third term in 2010, but faced Arkansas's Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter in a June 8, 2010, runoff in which she successfully won the Democratic nomination for the Senate election in the fall against Representative John Boozman, the GOP nominee.

Robert Corker, is the junior United States Senator from Tennessee. Before his election to the Senate in 2006, he served as state commissioner from 1995 to 1996 and as mayor of Chattanooga from 2001 to 2005. Corker was an unsuccessful candidate for the Senate in 1994, and a successful businessman as construction company owner and commercial real estate developer, prior to holding public office. He is second Republican US Senator from Chattanooga following Bill Brock. He serves as the ranking member on the Senate Aging Committee.

Carl Milton Levin (born June 28, 1934) is a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan and is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He has been in the Senate since 1979. He has been Michigan's senior senator since 1995. He has served as a U.S. Senator longer than any other Senator in Michigan history. He was elected to a sixth term in 2008 which will end in January 2015.

Carte Patrick Goodwin (born February 27, 1974) is an American politician and attorney who currently serves as the junior United States Senator from West Virginia, as a member of the Democratic Party. Goodwin was appointed by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin on July 16, 2010, having been appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of Robert Byrd. A special election will be held on November 2, 2010, to determine who will serve the remaining two years in Byrd's term. Goodwin took the oath of office on July 20, 2010.

Charles Ernest "Chuck" Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is the senior United States Senator from Iowa. A Republican, he has served in the Senate since 1981. From 1958 to 1974, he was an Iowa state legislator. Thereafter he served three terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. He has twice held the chairmanship of the Finance Committee, from January to June 2001 and from January 2003 to December 2006; since January 2007, he has served as the committee's ranking minority member.

Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer is the senior United States Senator from New York and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected in 1998, he defeated three-term Republican incumbent Al D'Amato. He was easily re-elected in 2004.
Before his election to the U.S. Senate, Schumer served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1999. He represented New York's 16th congressional district, which was later redistricted to the 10th congressional district in 1983 and to the 9th congressional district in 1993. A native of Brooklyn and graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, he was a three-term member of the New York State Assembly, serving from 1975 to 1980.

Claire Conner McCaskill (pronounced /m?'kæsk?l/; born July 24, 1953) is the junior United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Democratic Party. She defeated Republican incumbent Jim Talent in the 2006 U.S. Senate election, by a margin of 49.6% to 47.3%. She is the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri in her own right. She will become the state's senior U.S. Senator upon the retirement of Kit Bond in 2011.

Deborah Ann Greer "Debbie" Stabenow (born April 29, 1950) is the junior United States Senator from Michigan and a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to the U.S. Senate, she was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Michigan's 8th congressional district from 1997 to 2001. She previously served as a member of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners (1975-1978), Michigan House of Representatives (1979-1990), and Michigan Senate (1991-1994).

Dianne Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California and a member of the Democratic Party. Feinstein was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, after serving as Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.

Richard Joseph "Dick" Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is the senior United States Senator from the U.S. state of Illinois and Democratic Party Whip, the second highest position in the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate, and became Majority Whip when Democrats took control of the Senate on January 3, 2007. In April 2006, Time magazine identified Durbin as one of "America's 10 Best Senators."[1] He was the first United States Senator to support the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, then the other senator from Illinois.[2] He was reelected in November 2008 for a term ending in January 2015.

Richard Green 'Dick' Lugar is the senior United States Senator from Indiana. He is a member of the Republican Party and served as the mayor of Indianapolis from 1968 to 1976 and was elected to the United States Senate in 1976 where he has been the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1985 to 1987 and 2003 to 2007. Much of Lugar's work in the Senate is toward the dismantling of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons around the world.

Herbert H. "Herb" Kohl is an American politician, business leader and philanthropist. A Democrat, he currently serves as the senior U.S. Senator from Wisconsin and is the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks National Basketball Association (NBA) team. As of 2008 Kohl was the wealthiest Member of Congress.[1]

John Francis "Jack" Reed is the senior U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, serving since 1997. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives for Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district from 1991 to 1997.

John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV is a Democratic U.S. Senator from West Virginia since 1985. He was the 29th Governor of West Virginia from 1977 to 1985. As a great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, he is the only current politician of the prominent six-generation Rockefeller family and the only Democrat in what has been a traditionally progressive Republican dynasty.

Jesse Francis "Jeff" Bingaman, Jr. is the senior U.S. Senator from New Mexico. He has been in the Senate since 1983 and is a member of the Democratic Party. Bingaman was Attorney General of New Mexico from 1978 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 1982, when he defeated Republican incumbent and former astronaut Harrison Schmitt. He was re-elected in 1988, 1994, 2000, and 2006.

Jeffrey Alan "Jeff" Merkley (born October 24, 1956) is the junior United States Senator from Oregon. A member of the Democratic Party, Merkley was a five-term member of the Oregon Legislative Assembly representing House District 47, located in eastern Multnomah County within the Portland city limits. He also served as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.

Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. First elected in 1996, Sessions is a member of the Republican Party. He serves as the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

James Paul David "Jim" Bunning is an American politician and former pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was elected to the United States Senate from Kentucky in 1998 and has served there since 1999 as the Republican junior U.S. Senator.

James Warren "Jim" DeMint (born September 2, 1951) is the junior U.S. Senator from South Carolina, serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served as the U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 4th congressional district from 1999 to 2005.

John Anthony Barrasso is the junior U.S. Senator from Wyoming. A Republican, he was appointed by Democratic Governor Dave Freudenthal to succeed the late Craig L. Thomas, taking office on June 25, 2007. He won a special election in 2008 to fill the remaining four years of Thomas's term.

John Cornyn III (born February 2, 1952) is the junior United States Senator from Texas. He is a Republican and was elected to his first term in November 2002, having defeated Democrat Ron Kirk, the former mayor of Dallas, Texas. In the general election of November 4, 2008, he defeated the Democratic State Representative Rick Noriega of Houston for his second term. He was elected Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 111th U.S. Congress.

John Randolph Thune (born January 7, 1961) is the junior U.S. Senator from South Dakota, serving since 2005. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the U.S. Representative for South Dakota's At-large congressional district from 1997 to 2003.

Jon Llewellyn Kyl is the Republican junior U.S. Senator representing Arizona. He is currently the Senate Minority Whip, tasked with maintaining party discipline. Jon Kyl was born in the Midwest and moved to Arizona for college and law school. He later married and launched his career in Arizona. He ran for the House of Representatives in 1986 and then the United States Senate in 1994. He has been in the Senate since 1995.
In 2010, Sen. Kyl was recognized as one of the 2010 Time 100 most influential people in the world.

Judd Alan Gregg (born February 14, 1947) is a former Governor of New Hampshire and current United States Senator serving as ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a businessman and attorney in Nashua before entering politics. He currently serves as the Chair of the Public Advisory Board at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. Gregg was nominated for Secretary of Commerce in the Cabinet by President Barack Obama, but withdrew his name on February 12, 2009. He would be up for re-election in 2010, but has stated he will not run again.

Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison (born July 22, 1943), is the senior United States Senator from Texas. She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate, Hutchison also became the first Texas U.S. senator to receive more than four million votes in a single election.

Kent Conrad (born Gaylord Kent Conrad on March 12, 1948) is the senior United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party, the North Dakota affiliate of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1986, he is currently chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

Kirsten Elizabeth Rutnik Gillibrand is the junior United States Senator from New York and a member of the Democratic Party. On January 23, 2009, Gillibrand was appointed by Governor David Paterson to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who assumed the office of United States Secretary of State in the Obama administration. She is the second woman to serve as a U.S. Senator from New York.

Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American politician from South Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, he is currently the senior United States Senator from that state. He serves on the Armed Services and Judiciary Committees.

Lisa Ann Murkowski is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska. Murkowski, a Republican, is the only woman ever elected to Congress from her state, in addition to being the first Senator born in Alaska.

Maria E. Cantwell is the junior United States Senator from the state of Washington and is a member of the Democratic Party.
Previously she served in the Washington House of Representatives, and then in the United States House of Representatives from Washington's 1st congressional district between 1992 and 1994, after which she worked as an executive for RealNetworks. She is Washington's second female senator, serving with Patty Murray.

Mark Steven Kirk (born September 15, 1959) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois. On November 2, 2010, Kirk won a special election to finish the final months of Senator Roland Burris's term, in addition to winning a regular six year term beginning January 3, 2011. Kirk was sworn in on November 29, 2010. Prior to serving in the Senate, Kirk was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 10th congressional district from 2001-2010.

Mark Robert Warner is an American politician and businessman, currently serving in the United States Senate as the junior senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Warner was the 69th governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006.

Mary Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana, and is the second woman elected to the U.S. Senate for Louisiana. Landrieu is the daughter of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, Moon Landrieu and the sister of the current Mayor of New Orleans and former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana Mitch Landrieu. By national standards, Landrieu is among the most conservative Democrats in the U.S. Senate,[2] and is a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

Max Sieben Baucus (born December 11, 1941) is the senior United States Senator from Montana and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, and as of 2010 he is the longest-serving Senator from Montana, and the fifth longest-serving U.S. Senator currently in office.

Michael Shumway "Mike" Lee is the junior United States Senator from Utah. He is a member of the Republican Party. Supported by the Tea Party movement, he describes himself as a "constitutional conservative." Prior to serving in the United States Senate, he had never held political office.

Michael Richard "Mike" Pence (born June 7, 1959) is the U.S. Representative for Indiana's 6th district, and previously the 2nd district, serving since 2001. The 6th district covers much of Eastern Indiana. He is a member of the Republican Party.
In November of 2008, he was also selected to be the Chairman of the House Republican Conference. After helping the Republican Party to regain control of the U.S. House two years later, Pence announced on Nov. 3rd, 2010, that he would be resigning from his position as chairman. This touched off renewed speculation that he might be positioning himself for a 2012 gubernatorial or presidential election bid.

Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky. He was chosen by his Republican colleagues as the Minority Leader in November 2006, making him the top-ranking Republican in the 110th Congress, which convened January 3, 2007. He is a conservative, receiving a perfect score from the American Conservative Union in 2006.] McConnell won re-election in 2008 against Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford.

Olympia Jean Snowe (born February 21, 1947) is the senior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. Snowe has become widely known for her ability to influence the outcome of close votes, including whether to end filibusters. She and her fellow Senator from Maine, Susan Collins, are regarded as moderates within their party.

Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont. He is a member of the Democratic Party, the first and only Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator.

Randal Howard "Rand" Paul is a United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party. A member of the Tea Party movement, he describes himself as a "constitutional conservative" and a libertarian. He is the son of Republican Congressman and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas

Robert Byrd is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia, and a member and former Senate Leader of the Democratic Party. Byrd has been a Senator since January 3, 1959, and is the longest-serving Senator as well as the longest-serving member in congressional history. He has been the Dean of the Senate since 2003. He is also the oldest current member of the Congress, and is the first person to serve uninterrupted for half a century as a U.S. senator.

Ronald Lee "Ron" Wyden is an American politician from Oregon and a member of the Democratic Party. He won a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1980, and served there until 1996, when he became a U.S. Senator.

Russell Dana "Russ" Feingold (pronounced /'fa?n.?o?ld/; born March 2, 1953) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He has served as a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate and the junior Senator from Wisconsin since 1993. Prior to being elected to the United States Senate, Feingold served as a member of the Wisconsin State Senate for the 27th District starting in 1982. Feingold was reelected in 1986 and 1990.

Clarence Saxby Chambliss (born November 10, 1943) is the senior United States Senator from Georgia. He is a member of the Republican Party. In the 110th Congress, Chambliss serves as the ranking Republican member of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, chairing the committee during the 109th Congress (2005-2007). He now serves as the Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture.

Scott Philip Brown (born September 12, 1959), an American politician, is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Republican Party. Before his election, he served as a member of the Massachusetts General Court, first in the State House of Representatives (1998-2004) and then in the State Senate (2004-2010).

Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is the junior United States Senator from Maine and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the Senate in 1996, she is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Collins and her fellow Senator from Maine, Olympia Snowe, along with Scott Brown of Massachusetts are regarded as leading moderates within the Republican Party.

Edward E. "Ted" Kaufman (born March 15, 1939) is the junior U.S. Senator from the state of Delaware. He is a member of the Democratic Party who previously served on the staff of the United States Senate.
He was appointed for two years to fill the term of former U.S. Senator Joe Biden, who resigned to become Vice President of the United States. Prior to becoming a U.S. Senator, Kaufman had often been an adviser to Biden for much of his political career. He is 94th in seniority in the U.S. Senate.

Thomas Richard "Tom" Carper (born January 23, 1947) is an American politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War and a member of the Democratic Party, who served five terms as United States Representative from Delaware, two terms as Governor of Delaware and currently is the senior United States Senator from Delaware.

Thomas Allen "Tom" Coburn, M.D. (born March 14, 1948), is an American politician, medical doctor, and ordained Southern Baptist deacon. A member of the Republican Party, he currently serves as the junior U.S. Senator from Oklahoma.
Coburn was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 as part of the Republican Revolution. He upheld his campaign pledge to serve no more than three consecutive terms and did not run for re-election in 2000. In 2004, he returned to political office with a successful run for the U.S. Senate.
Coburn is a fiscal and social conservative, known for his opposition to deficit spending and pork barrel projects, and for his leadership in the pro-life movement. He supports term limits, gun rights, and the death penalty and opposes gay marriage, which he calls "the homosexual agenda."

Thomas Harkin is the junior United States Senator from Iowa and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1984, Harkin was a candidate for his party's presidential nomination in 1992.